By Ashley Nel | Project Leader
Hello Sweethearts,
As we close out another year of impact, we want to pause and say this clearly:
This work only happens because you keep showing up.
From 1 March 2025 to 28 February 2026, your collections, sorting days, school drives, and corporate challenges helped us continue transforming everyday waste into life-changing mobility across South Africa.
This is what we've achieved together:
20 tonnes Collected and Recycled
This year, you helped us collect and responsibly recycle approximately 20 tonnes of Collection Items (Tops, Tags, Tabs, and Lids).
That is 20 tonnes diverted from landfill.
20 tonnes turned into funding.
20 tonnes converted into independence.
Behind every kilogram is a classroom, an office kitchen, a garage, a volunteer who remembered not to throw something away.
Each of our beneficiaries undergoes clinical assessment by qualified occupational therapists. Their wheelchair is then custom-manufactured to meet their specific physical and postural needs.
This means:
Mobility is not a luxury. It is access.
Why does "Custom" matter?
A standard, off-the-shelf wheelchair can create pressure sores, spinal complications, and long-term discomfort.
A properly fitted chair supports:
Your collections and donations make this level of care possible.
Every Collection Adds Up
To fund a standard wheelchair, it takes approximately:
No single volunteer carries that weight alone. It is the power of thousands of small contributions that changes a life.
Where Your Support Went
During this period, funds were used for:
This year, we continued expanding nationally.
The Sweethearts Foundation now operates across all nine provinces of South Africa, with a growing network of community champions who sustain this work.
The Challenges We Continue to Navigate
But your consistency gives this organisation stability.
The strength of this model is not in a single large donation.
It is in steady, collective participation.
Looking ahead to 2026
In the coming year, we aim to:
Most importantly, we aim to keep growing this community of everyday changemakers.
Thank You
To every volunteer who:
You are part of something bigger than a recycling drive. You are part of a national movement turning waste into wheels.
Yours in impact,
The Sweethearts Foundation
Links:
By Jessica Gordon | Sweethearts Team Member
By Jessica Gordon | Sweethearts Team Member
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